In close quarter combat, typically in the range of 2-800 meters, soldiers are required to rapidly acquire, identify, and accurately fire on enemy targets. Soldiers may use weapon-mounted sights with visible and infrared light sources to assist in the aiming process during daytime and nighttime missions. These sights may be mounted on vehicle-mounted weapons and handheld weapons such as the M4A1 carbine and other small arms and are used to provide better target observation, illumination, and marking.
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a weapon mountable sight 100 with optics and electronics at least partially enclosed in a housing 102. The sight 100 has a visible laser pointer assembly 110, an infrared laser pointer assembly 112, an infrared illuminator assembly 108, and a white light assembly 170, controlled by one or more switch actuators. The visible laser pointer assembly 110 and the infrared laser pointer assembly 112 are mounted on a common optical bench and can be bore sighted using up-down adjuster 130 and left-right adjuster 128, after being secured to a weapon (not shown). Infrared illuminator assembly 108 is mounted on a second, separate optical bench and can be bore sighted using up-down adjuster 130′ and left-right adjuster (not shown). The size of the resulting infrared illuminator beam may be adjusted by rotation of a beam adjuster 132. Rotation of the beam adjuster causes a lens to translate generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the barrel of the weapon relative to an infrared diode coupled to the second optical bench.
Aiming devices are often mounted on handheld weapons where weight and size are important design criteria. Limiting the number of optical benches and associated adjusters saves space, weight, and makes bore sighting simpler. Having a beam adjuster that can be manipulated by users wearing gloves is also desirable.